Results : At the time of assessment, 42% of participants reported having a diagnosis of sleep apnea for an average of .84 years (SD=1.79). The regression model was significant (F(4,45)=6.497, pβ=-.057, p=.671) after adjusting for age, education, and TBI severity. A separate regression model examining the impact of the duration of illness was significant (F(4,43)=5.436, p=.001), but there was not statistically significant relationship between duration of sleep apnea and BTACT composite score (β=-.020, p=.879) after adjusting for other predictors.

Conclusions : Results do not support a relationship between sleep apnea and cognition after TBI, which contrasts prior studies examining the association between cognitive functioning and sleep apnea after TBI (Wilde, 2007). Our study may have been underpowered, and should be replicated with a larger sample. Also, sleep apnea status and duration of illness was determined by self-report and more sensitive measures may be needed. In addition, a prior study has found some reversibility in cognitive deficits following treatment of sleep apnea (Engleman, 2000), however treatment was not analyzed in this study which may have influenced findings.